Political Parties Support Health IT in Platforms
While most media headlines about party platforms focused on social issues, both Democrats and Republicans cited healthcare technology needs in their respective list of priorities.
“We support technology enhancements for medical health records and data systems while affirming patient privacy and ownership of health information,” reads the Republican platform, which spells out the party’s views and vision for governing the country.
It was released during the party’s late August convention during which Mitt Romney formally won the GOP nomination for president
In their party platform, Democrats vow to back a “21st century digital infrastructure” one that will allow for greater wireless capabilities in industries such as healthcare.
The platform, approved at the party’s presidential nominating convention this week in Charlotte, NC, includes this language: “We will ensure that America has a 21st century digital infrastructure – robust wired and wireless broadband capability, a smarter electrical grid, and upgraded information technology infrastructure in key sectors such as health care and education.”
The Democrats don’t go in detail about how they will do this and don’t specifically cite health information technology. But the reference to “digital infrastructure” appears to be a general endorsement of modernizing the delivery of healthcare in the United States, much as Republicans did in their party platform.
Congress approved in 2009 funding for a major health IT initiative as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, albeit with little Republican support.
The legislation allocated $19.2 billion, part of a $787 billion economic stimulus plan, for the government’s “meaningful use” program, where hospitals and doctors incorporate electronic health records (EHRs) into their practices in exchange for monetary incentives. The program is part of the Obama Administration’s goal to computerize medical records.
The push for EHRs began earlier. In 2005, then-President George W. Bush set a goal for all Americans to use EHRs by 2015. His administration appointed the first health information technology coordinator, a position which still exists today.
The 62-page GOP platform also criticizes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for what it describes as threatening device and pharmaceutical innovation. That theme has been sounded by congressional Republicans for well over a year as they’ve pressed the agency to streamline its review process.
“The United States has led the global medical device and pharmaceutical industries for decades,” the platform reads. “But that leadership position is at risk; patients, innovators, and job creators point to the lack of predictability, consistency, transparency and efficiency at the Food and Drug Administration that is driving innovation overseas.”
The party’s goal is to ensure that “the FDA no longer wastes U.S. taxpayer and innovators’ resources because of bureaucratic red tape and legal uncertainty,” the platform reads.
To read the Republican platform, click here (PDF). For the Democratic platform, click here (PDF).
Posted: September 5, 2012